Dowell Loggains discusses implementing new system for South Carolina offense

Each offseason brings in new faces to South Carolina’s roster and coaching staff.

This past offseason, the Gamecocks brought in not only a new coordinator in Dowell Loggains, but also new offensive system.

For Loggains, the philosophy underpinning that system is finding a set of plays that best fits his players’ strengths.

“It’s hard not to be stubborn sometimes as a coach because you’re like, ‘I want to run this play. We had a ton of success running this play,’” Loggains said. “It’s finding a system and building it with things that we do well here.”

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He said that lots of reps will help determine what playing styles best suit the South Carolina offense.

“It takes time to figure out if doing something is a one-hit wonder or, is this a song we can learn by heart,” Loggains said.

Loggains added that he wants to include both plays already in South Carolina’s playbook and new ones he developed through his coaching experience.

“(Marcus) Satterfield had a background with Joe Brady, who came from New Orleans and I worked with… So there was 50-60% of the vernacular I knew in the passing game already,” Loggains said. “There was also things I’ve learned and studied over my last 18 years of coaching that I wanted to implement.”

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Loggains said he also consulted with Shane Beamer, who has a wealth of experience coaching on offense. Beamer spent three seasons as an assistant head coach at Oklahoma, where he worked with two future NFL quarterbacks.

One of those quarterbacks – Kyler Murray – was a Heisman Trophy winner in 2018.

“I don’t know that people talk about this enough: the fact that how many Heisman quarterback he’s been around and seen,” Loggains said. “He was at Oklahoma when they were bringing guys and getting them ready to play in one year.”

Loggains consulted with other members of the coaching staff, including newly-hired offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley, to develop plays. Loggains said he made an effort to talk with Teasley during the hiring process to ensure their playing styles aligned.

“I wasn’t going to open myself and say, ‘Hey, this is what I like’ so he could sit there and say, ‘Yeah, I agree,’” Loggains said. “I tried to ask as many open-ended questions as I could so I could understand what he believed in and see if it could mesh… You want to have a match philosophically that way.”

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While some players may not be familiar with Loggains’ new plays, Trey Knox, who played under him at Arkansas, is. Loggains said Knox will serve an important role in getting his South Carolina teammates up to speed on Loggains’ system.

“It’s very helpful for Trey to be here because there are some things from Arkansas terminology-wise that get carried over,” Loggains said. “To have another guy in the room of a bunch of new faces, it does help.”

Loggains acknowledged that nothing is set in stone, including the depth chart, despite meticulous planning in the offseason.

“The players are going to create the depth chart the way they play, not the coaches,” Loggains said. “They determine themselves – how they play, how their winter workouts went, how they pick up on a new offense in a new system.”

Loggains said the playbook is still being developed in spring practices and embraces the challenge it brings. “It’s also continuing to evolve because you want to put some ideas together, but you also want to study what’s going on in college football as well,” Loggains said. “It’s a constant grind, which is great for new coaches.”

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